The Blue Mountain
by Songwind k'Vala
Summary: With Magery returned to Valdemar, it was only a matter of time before the mage-schools established themselves.
1. Chapter 1

It was a good day in Haven.

Through the open third-story window came the sounds of the city - the cries of travelling vendors peddling their goods, a pair of songbirds squabbling over a snack, the rattle of carts as they moved over the flagstones. A light breeze blew the indescribable smell of the city into the room – the smell of sweat, dung and food, overlaying the odd smell of hot stone, a sprinkling of womanly scent, leavened generously with perfume from the flowers growing on the tree right outside.

Most importantly, the window let in lots of light, light which fell upon a desk cluttered with papers. Secretary Ersand, in service to her majesty Selenay, Queen of Valdemar, sat at the desk, taking advantage of the light to tally up a long column of figures.

A knock sounded on the door, which creaked open. "Sir, a Master Alain is here, requesting to see you," his undersecretary said as he handed Ersand a form.

"Right on time. Hmm, application for a tavern and brewer's license… alright, send him in." Ersand heard the undersecretary's footsteps going down the stairwell, and continued tallying up the figures. He wrote the final sum at the bottom of the page, checked to see that it tallied with another sheet, before putting both aside just as Alain walked into the room.

Ersand's first thought, even as he stood up and extended his hand, was _he's rather slim for a innkeeper, isn't he?_ Alain certainly did not fit his mental image of how innkeepers usually looked like. Slightly taller than him, but of a slim build, Alain looked like he was only in his late thirties. His hand, as Ersand shook it, was smooth except for pen-calluses, rather than the toughened hand that most barkeeps sported from hefting barrels.

They both sat down after preliminary pleasantries had been exchanged. The undersecretary appeared again with cups of tea, and they waited until he had left before getting down to business.

"So, Alain, I understand you wish to open a tavern?" Ersand inquired.

"Not a tavern, an inn." At Ersand raised eyebrow, Alain explained further "from what I understand of your language, a tavern is merely a place for people to drink. We wish to have rooms for guests to stay in, and which they may rent for other purposes as well. I believe that is called an 'inn'?"

"I see. You're not Valdemaran, are you?"

"No, I'm from Rethwellan, or thereabouts," Alain replied.

"Well if I might say so myself, your command of Valdemaran is excellent for a foreigner," Ersand complimented, causing Alain to give a small smile.. "So…not a problem, not a problem… your form does not list any stated address for your proposed business. Have you secured any location yet?"

"I did just yesterday, in fact. We – that is, my friends and I – purchased an old warehouse in the Merchant's district. We intend to demolish it and build our inn there."

"Alrigh... wait, you said an old _warehouse_?" Ersand was startled at the size of the land in question.

"Indeed. As you may surmise, we intend to build a rather large establishment."

"Indeed! Well, I don't see any objection to granting you the required licenses, provided you are able to pay the fees – you can settle that with my undersecretary on the way out." Ersand turned his attention to the parchment and quickly jotted down his approval in the appropriate space.

"You will also have to get approval for the building plan itself before I can – ah, I see you already have it," as he noted a seal on another parchment Alain silently held up. "In that case, give me a moment-" Ersand rummaged in a drawer and drew out his own seal, with a blue-wax candle flecked with silver. "Let me call for a flame…"

"Here," Alain stretched out his finger, and a small flame sprang into life atop it.

Ersand started violently back, and almost fell off his chair. "Is that…"

"Yes, it's magic. I have a bit of talent in that regard." Alain sounded slightly amused. "Pardon me. I forget that you of Valdemar are unused to Magery."

"I...we…um, yes. Right. Thank you." recovering his composure, Ersand lit his candle and let the wax drip onto the parchment. When a small blob had accumulated, he extinguished the flame affixed his own seal into the wax.

"You will need to wait awhile for the wax to set, I fear…"

"No need." Alain gently touched the wax, and it instantly hardened. He picked up the form, carefully placed it in a leather folder, and stood up.

"Pardon my haste, but I need to leave. I have many other matters I need to deal with today."

"Ah…yes, please don't let me detain you. Settle the required fees with my clerk by the door." Ersand managed to stammer out. As Alain was exiting the room, Ersand's curiosity overtook him and he asked "Sorry, if I might just ask – what will you be naming your inn?"

Alain paused and looked back over his shoulder with a small smile on his lips.

"The Blue Mountain."


	2. Chapter 2

The Merchant's District was a scene of utter chaos.

Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people, were milling in the streets, jostling for a better view. The City Militia upon their arrival, found their way absolutely obstructed by the sheer number of bodies, and no amount of shouting or brute force could clear them a way through the throng. After several fruitless attempts, the Militia sent a runner to the Guard for help, and withdrew to wait.

At the centre of this entire commotion were four men, who were doing the most innocuous thing possible – standing in the middle of the street, peering over a large sheet of paper, and carrying out a discussion in a low voice. There was nothing to draw people's attention to them – they were dressed in simple clothing, mopping their faces with handkerchiefs, drinking from a flask near them – and would definitely would have passed by unnoticed in any crowd. The only remarkable thing they had done was to take possession of a large warehouse just a candlemark beforehand, and such commercial transactions were normally subject to a passing comment and brief curiosity at the most.

However, after taking possession of the warehouse, the four men had destroyed the building, burning it right down to its foundations.

Using magery.

The story of witnesses spread through the crowd, describing how the men had separated and surrounded the building. One of the men had then opened the doors of the warehouse and warned everyone to stay behind him. He had then made a gesture - and a ball of flame had _leaped_ from his open hand into the building.

A huge _boom_ resounded, and the entire building burst into roaring flame

Spectators had screamed, but before they could even open their mouths a roaring wind sprang up on all sides of the building, fanning the conflagration but at the same time limiting it into a column of air and fire that erupted into the sky. The tower had then appeared to meet a barrier, which capped the flames, until it seemed that a giant marble of flame stood where the warehouse once was.

In minutes, there was nothing left except traces of ash on the ground. All the winds then ceased, and another man had spread his hand, with his fingers pointing at the ground – and a gust of icy wind blew the ash away and cooled the ground so fast some swore they saw frost form.

The four men had then walked around the ground, before one of them unrolled the huge parchment and began to compare it to the ground .The other 3 joined him soon after, and they began their discussion which continued until the Guard came.

"Make way for the Guard! In the name of the Queen, make way for the Guard!" The crowd was forced back as a dozen horsemen and fifty guardsmen, dressed in beight blue, pressed their way to the front of the crowd. They formed up in the empty space that people left around the four, with the guardsmen nocking arrows to bows and the horsemen placing their hand upon lances.

One of the horsemen rode to the front and approached the four cautiously. The four seemed caught up in their discussion, but they all looked up as he coughed.

"Yes?" One of them asked.

"Lieutenant Jansen, Valdemaran Guard, at your service, sir," The horseman introduced himself crisply. Looking at the man who had spoken, he asked "May I know what's your name, and what you are doing?"

"You may call me Alain, Lieutenant," The man who had spoken stated. Detatching himself from his companions, he walked up to the Guardsman. "We were discussing plumbing."

"Plumbing?" the Lieutenant raised an eyebrow as he looked around. "Could you, sir, perhaps explain what was so interesting about your discussion that caused such a crowd? Also," he turned his gaze to the patch of empty land where the warehouse had once stood, "would you happen to know where the warehouse that used to be on this… empty plot vanished to?"

"I believe that the crowd was watching us after we burned down the warehouse, Lieutenant. And yes, we owned the warehouse," Alain handed a sheaf of documents he was holding to the Guardsman, who glanced over them and visibly relaxed as he did so. The guardsmen behind him also relaxed accordingly, though none of them relaxed their watchful stance.

"Well, these seem to all be in order. I see you plan to erect a tavern here, was burning down the warehouse part of that?" He smiled as he returned the papers to Alain.

"Yes, we wish to build this tavern with stone, not wood, so we needed to clear the land first."

"Alright then, sir, sorry for the trouble. In future, if the occasion arises again, may I request that you choose a less dramatic means of demolishing property, to avoid future commotions." He turned and shouted at the crowd "Alright, nothing to see, move along now in the name of the Queen!"

"They used magic!" A shout came from amidst the crowd, and a murmur of agreement arose.

"What?" The Lieutenant wheeled around and faced Alain, making his horse take several steps backward. "Sir, is this true?"

"Well yes, we do have some talent in that regard, so we-"

"Make way! In the name of the Queen!"

Both Alain and Jansen turned at the shout, and the Guardsmen split down the middle as another column drew up. The men in this column were largely dressed in dark blue, except for two figures in white and two more in golden robes at the centre of the group. Lieutenant Jansen saluted as one of the newcomers in dark blue and the other four in white and gold came to the front. The man in dark blue returned the salute.

"Captain Justen, Royal Valdemaran Guard," the newcomer stated, turning to face Alain. "With me are Herald-Mages Jonril and Banon, and Mages Ryasith and Kilrich. My Lords?"

One of the figures in white rode forward. "I am Herald-Mage Jonril. May I know who I am speaking to?"

"You may call me Alain."

"Well, Master Alain, roughly a candlemark ago, we felt a sudden burst of magical energy being released and used in this vicinity. This concerned the Queen's Own, who ordered us to investigate. May I know what's going on?"

Alain pursed his lips and considered before replying. "Well, sir, I think I should reintroduce myself. Master – no, Chronicler-Adept Alain, Mage of the Blue Mountain school."

_An Adept_. The words seemed to echo through the crowd, and immediately the guardsmen grew tense.

"As to what happened, my colleagues and I – Master-Adept Yssandra, Master Kyrin and Scholar-Adept Manfras – used magery to destroy a building which we had purchased, to clear the land for future use."

_All four mages_. Herald-Mage Jonril remained unfazed, but the two Mages swallowed nervously. The other Herald-Mage frowned in concentration for an instant, then mindvoiced :_I've alerted the Collegium. Help is ready if needed._:

:_Thanks._: Herald-Mage Jonril turned back to Alain, when one of the 3 mages behind Alain – Yssandra – burst out laughing.

"Great gods, no!" She walked forward to Jonril. "There's no need to call for assistance, we're not threatening you or Valdemar! We just used the most efficient way to get rid of the old building that we knew!" She rolled her eyes at Jonril's wary glance. :_Look, I have mindspeech too, you should know it's impossible to lie mind-to-mind. We don't mean any harm to you or Valdemar._: she broadcast.

The Heralds-Mage relaxed, but still retained his wary posture. "Thanks; that reassures me a lot. May I know what two Adepts are doing in Haven?"

"Two?" Alain queried.

"Yourself and Manfras, I believe?"

"Oh! no, we have three Adepts. Our school doesn't rank people on their magical talent, but on knowledge, so Yssandra here's a Master-Adept."

"I don't think I understand you…" Herald Jonril's curiosity at meeting the Blue Mountain mages got the better of him, despite his wariness.

"Oh, it's very simple. We have four ranks in our school; Student, Scholar, Master and Chronicler. Chronicler is just a rank given to Masters placed in charge of our Inns and Schools. I'm the Chronicler for the Haven Inn, Yssandra and Kyrin are Masters who chose to come here with me, and Manfras is studying for his Mastery under me. Kyrin's mage-rank is only Master though… I take it that you're an Adept yourself?"

Jonril's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Yes, how did you know that?"

"Simple, you were the only one who I couldn't gauge. I can feel the strength of your friends, but not of you. Good to see that the Heralds have Adepts now. How's the mage-school progressing?"

"We're doing well, a surprising number of children and even older Valdemarans are coming in with the Mage-gift now. They're considering expanding the Mages' Wing. Sorry, you mentioned something about the Haven Inn?"

"Oh, the School establishes Inns in every major city with a good library. It's a place where mages from our school can stay, study, and practice. Of course, we also provide accommodation to others, but it's a place primarily for mages."

:_Jonril, Rolan says Talia wants us to return. He also adds that Banon should stay behind just to keep an eye on them – not that he thinks anything's going to happen, but just in case._: Jonril's Companion paused, then relayed a further message. :_Rolan says the Queen's instructions are to tell these mages that they are welcome in Haven, and that she would like to grant them an audience in two days' time, and in the meantime to try not to cause any more human barricades._: the Companion sounded amused at the last instruction.

Jonril relayed the message to Alain, who exchanged a glance and shrug with Yssandra before politely accepting the Queen's invitation.

"Farewell, Alain, and I personally hope that I will be able to come visit your Inn once it's built!" Jonril turned around and led the Guards away. By this time, most of the crowd had dispersed from boredom, leaving only a few gawkers with too much time on their hands standing on the streets.

* * *

><p>"So, we've attracted the attention of the Queen herself, did we?" Kyrin noted.<p>

"I keep on forgetting that even after twenty years, Valdemar is still very unused to seeing mages work," Alain replied. "I believe a more…mundane means of demolition may have been better."

"So, should we still carry on with our plan for construction, or should we get it done my mundane means?" Manfras asked.

They all considered, and Yssandra voiced her opinion. "I think that we should continue with our plan. Building it the normal way would take far too much time – and besides, Manfras, wasn't there something you wanted to try out?"

"Well, yes, but we can always postpone it…"

"Let's continue with our plan. Besides, Manfras, you already ordered the stone to arrive tomorrow, am I right? So we might as well not waste time. Is that Herald still watching us?" Alain asked.

"Yes, he and a few of those Royal Guards. I don't think they'll interfere, though." Kyrin observed.

"Let's get on with this, then. Yssandra, since you aren't familiar with this problem – no offense –"

"None taken,"

"Maybe you could go mark out the dimensions for the rooms on the ground floor and cellar first, while the rest of us try to solve this problem? Remember to use white, and set it so we can reactivate it tomorrow." At her nod, Alain turned back to the large parchment, muttering "Honestly, I don't believe that we forgot to include a water source into our plans…"


End file.
